Chapter 34

“What are you all doing here?” I direct my question to Alessandro. I just walked into the rink for morning skate, not that I’ll be doing any actual skating.

“Lil wanted to come see you,” he says.

“She’s here? Where?” My heart races. She’s here. She wants to see me.

“She just went to the restroom.” Lili’s cousin Aurora points down the hall, and I’m walking that way before she can finish speaking.

I push through the door marked female and call out, “Lili?”

By the time I make it all the way inside the bathroom, it’s clear no one else is here. I’m about to turn around and walk out when I see something on the ground. Bending down, I pick up a handbag. Not just any handbag. Lili’s. I know this because she spent an hour talking to me about the thing before she bought it.

“Lili?” I call out again, louder this time, as I push inside every stall even though I already know they’re empty. “Fuck!” Ignoring the searing pain in my side, I run back out to where Grayson and Alessandro are waiting. “Where the fuck is she?” I glance around, my eyes scanning the ice, the stands, everywhere I can see. “Lili!”

Without a word, Aurora and Alessandro rush past me and into the bathroom. She’s not there. She’s supposed to be there and she’s not.

“Fuck.” I turn to Grayson and throw my arms in his direction. “Do something. Find her.”

He’s on his phone and running across the arena. Away from the bathrooms. I don’t know what to do. She can’t be far. How long was she in there by herself?

I jog down the hallway, yelling out her name, and eventually push through the back door that leads to the parking lot. I turn when I hear footsteps behind me. Alessandro. “Where the fuck is she?” I scream at him.

He looks at me, his face a stony mixture of desperation, fear, and anger. Aurora comes out behind him. “I’m calling the boss,” she says.

“I’ll do it. Go and find Gray. I want all the CCTV footage. Everything,” he tells her. She doesn’t wait before she runs back into the building.

My lungs fight for air. Someone took Lili. Someone has her and is doing God knows what with her. My stomach twists into a knot.

“Fuck! Is her phone in there?” Alessandro points to the handbag still clutched to my chest.

I open the bag and dig through the contents. “No phone,” I tell him. But I do feel the outline of a handgun. She was taken and she doesn’t even have a way to protect herself.

“Good. Hopefully she has it with her,” he says as he pulls his own phone to his ear. “Pops… Lil… she… fuck!” Alessandro tugs at his hair.

“Where the fuck are you?” I hear her father’s voice shout down the line.

“The rink. She went to the bathroom. She’s… someone took her.”

“What the fuck do you mean someone took her, Alessandro? How the fuck could you let that happen on your watch?”

“I…” Alessandro looks to me with a desperation I’ve never seen in his eyes before.

“I’m on my way. Find that fucker Monroe right now.”

“Monroe?” I parrot while looking at Alessandro.

“Lou Monroe, Gray’s uncle. He’s the voice you heard on Gray’s phone yesterday. If you’re certain that’s the guy who shot you, then that’s who has Lili,” he grits out.

I follow Alessandro back inside the building as he reaches into his waistband and draws a pistol. Why the fuck don’t I carry? That’s something I can rectify later. Right now, I want to burn this place to the goddamn ground.

Alessandro slams through a door and then he’s pointing his gun right at Grayson’s head. “Where the fuck is my sister?”

“I don’t know, man.” Gray holds his hands in the air. “We’re running through the tapes now.”

“Where the fuck is that uncle of yours?”

“Lou?” Gray’s brows knit together.

“You got any others? Where the fuck is he?” Alessandro hisses.

“He’s in Toronto.”

“No, he’s not. He’s here. What’s he want with my sister?” Alessandro is firing off question after question, his arm outstretched and that pistol aimed directly at Gray.

“I’ve got no fucking idea, but if he’s done something to her, I’ll fucking kill him myself,” Gray says between gritted teeth.

Aurora’s gasp has me looking in her direction and then up at the wall-mounted screen she’s staring at. Lili is being carried out of the arena. Her head lulls to the side.

“She’s fucking unconscious,” I growl. “Where the fuck is this guy?”

Grayson picks up his phone and makes a call. “Pops, where’s Lou?” he asks. I don’t hear his father’s reply, but Gray nods. “Okay,” he says as he sets the receiver down and looks to Alessandro. “Both of our fathers are almost here.”

“Pull up the footage from the parking lot.” Alessandro waves his gun towards the screen.

“You can put that thing down, you know. I’m not your enemy here,” Gray tells him while tapping away on the keyboard.

“Right now, everyone is my fucking enemy,” Alessandro counters.

I can’t stop staring at the screen. We’re all just standing around while Lili is unconscious and in the hands of a fucking lunatic. I don’t look away. Not when a shit-ton of men enter the room. Not when I hear her father yelling out commands and throwing shit around. Not even when I feel someone’s hand land on my shoulder. My eyes are glued to the stilled image of her being carried away. I pull my phone out of my pocket and dial her number. I don’t know why I haven’t tried it before now.

The call connects and I put it on speaker. “You really don’t know how to take a fucking hint, do you, kid?” That voice… it’s the same one I heard right before I was shot.

“Where the fuck is Liliana?” I growl.

“She’s where she belongs. With me. Don’t worry, you’ll see her again. But it’ll be too late by then. She’ll be mine in every way possible.”

I look to Mr. Valentino. His jaw is set tight, his glare hyperfocused as he listens in while tapping at his phone. “Keep him talking,” one of Lili’s uncles whispers into my ear.

“She’ll never be yours and we both know that. I’m going to fucking tear you limb from limb when I find you. I can’t wait to watch you fucking bleed,” I grunt.

“Those are big words from a no-good hockey player.” The asshole laughs. “Give it your best shot, boy. You ain’t got nothing I’m afraid of.”

“Tell me where you are and I’ll gladly show you firsthand,” I hiss.

Mr. Valentino looks up from his phone. “You might not be afraid of him, Lou. But mark my words… when I get my hands on you, you’re going to beg for fucking mercy. And I promise you, you won’t get it,” he says in an eerily calm voice.

The phone disconnects. My fingers clench around it.

Mr. Valentino glances at my hands before looking back up at me. “We got it. Let’s go.”